The present invention relates to accessing information over a network using links or pointers. More specifically, providing notice to users when a previously malfunctioning link or pointer has restored functionality.
Clicking on a link or pointer in a web browser may result in a “file not found” (404) error or some other 4xx-level or 5xx-level error. These errors generally indicate that there is something wrong with the link or pointer. However, the errors are not in and of themselves specific as to whether the link points to an old address or whether the server, to which the link points, has something wrong at the moment that access is sought, e.g., the server is overloaded or a file being requested from the server is corrupt. In this second example, the link itself is current, but the server to which the link points is having problems serving the pages at the moment access is sought. No additional information is provided by the error message, including what is wrong with the link and when the link is anticipated to come back.
Web users may search for and find products identified for sale on the Internet and, thereafter, subscribe to price-drop notifications for these products. Changedetection.com, amazon.com, and pricedrop.com facilitate these price-drop notifications to users when a user has identified the product to be tracked. Amazon.com and pricedrop.com may deploy plug-ins for a client web-browser, where the plug-in is running on the user's local browser, in order to provide price-drop notifications. The web-browser plug-in may query websites to check the prices of previously displayed products selected by the user and, when the product's price changes, a price-update can be provided.
As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art, embodiments of the following invention are novel and nonobvious over the 4xx and 5xx level errors and the price-drop notifications described above.